Reeva Steenkamp - A Letter to The Sun

Below is a copy of an email I have sent to the letter pages of The Sun (letters@the-sun.co.uk). I have sent it in response to their front page this morning (the 15th of February) specifically with regard to the picture of Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius who was killed last night. Suffice to say, it illustrates the story of the girl's killing with a picture of her modelling in swimwear. If you look it up, please don't spend too long on The Sun's website; I would hate them to earn too much advertising money from this awful incident. Whatever you do, don't buy the paper. In fact I recommend you never buy it again. Please read my letter, and if you agree with me, I urge you to contact The Sun by phone or by email (letters@the-sun.co.uk, 020 7782 4000) and let them know that people do care and that their actions do matter.


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To the Editor,

I would like to express in the strongest possible terms my disgust and horror at the front page of the 15th of February edition of your rag. This shameful choice of image to illustrate the tragic fate of Reeva Steenkamp is surely a new low, even for The Sun. A young woman has lost her life in the most awful circumstances, yet you deny her even the slightest shred of dignity. Instead, you offer a picture to titillate, entertain and, ultimately, sell your rotten paper. When you chose to use such a picture, you placed her worth at nought; she was no longer a person, she was a piece of flesh with which to flog your grotesque publication. Who knew such a stark and awful tragedy had any humanity left of which to be robbed? But somehow you achieved it. I cannot claim that you have lost in me a loyal customer, and so I
imagine this letter will seem to you of little consequence. But I implore you to understand why it does matter, and why the dignity of a woman, of a human being, is something which is not to be sold and traded like a commodity.

I would cry shame on you, but I do not think you know the meaning of the word.

Yours,

Nathan Gower

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